Five years ago, The Belk Foundation looked very different than it does today. When I was asked to come on as the foundation’s first full-time director, the objective from the board was clear: help us connect this 80-plus-year-old foundation more fully into the community, so that we may better understand the impact of our grantmaking.... Read More
Not all that much good comes with getting older, but one exception is time spent with the best teacher of all: experience. After 27 years in foundation philanthropy, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to learn firsthand some important lessons, and today I share a key one: Publishing your guidelines, and generally being transparent about... Read More
Before I came to the PIMCO Foundation, I worked in the nonprofit sector for six years. Year one changed my career trajectory, and years two through six provided formative life experiences. I have vivid memories of my time in nonprofit, from counseling youth to meeting donors to schlepping t-shirt boxes up and down and around... Read More
At seven years old, Treven Treece of Morristown, Tennessee, decided he wanted to go to college. He would be the first in his family to do it. With no one to guide him, Treven had no idea how college worked. He applied to the University of Memphis and, as a first-generation college student, won a... Read More
To make the time you spend on proposal review even more focused and efficient, it’s essential to invest a little time in preparation. This article describes both how to prepare and how to use a prescreening process—two steps to help you focus time on the proposals that most interest your foundation and be efficient in... Read More
I grew up and spent most of my life in greater Boston. This included the 1970s when racial tension in the city was heightened by court-ordered bussing to desegregate the Boston City Schools. It was an ugly time for the region and a city so integral to the American Revolution. If I’m honest with myself,... Read More